Alleged Southwell rapist tells court no sexual activity took place
A man accused of rape gave evidence today in his defence and denied that any sexual activity took place.
James Worsley, 23, of Westhorpe, Southwell, said he had no idea why the allegedly victim would claim she had been raped.
Mr Worsley often gave single-word yes or no answers when asked questions by his defence advocate.
He told day two of his trial at Nottingham Crown Court that he had slept fully clothed on the night in question in the woman's bed.
Accepted facts were that both had drunk to excess and he had been invited to stay over because he could not go home. He stayed in her bed as there were no others available in the house.
The prosecution questioned his account that nothing had happened and, as part of that questioning, Mr Worsley denied a Snapchat picture of the two of them in the bedroom that was sent to her friends had been taken and showed him shirtless.
He said: "It didn't happen. I have never had sex with her."
He said he had no recollection of the alleged victim getting up in the night to go to the bathroom.
In her evidence yesterday, she told the court that she had woken up to him having sex with her.
She said that when she realised it was him, through her dazed and confused condition, she moved out from under him and went to the bathroom.
In his evidence, Mr Worsley admitted that he had lied to police after his arrest, claiming that he had not been at the woman's home that night, despite witness accounts to the contrary, because he had been shaken and scared and feared that if he admitted being there detectives would think the worst.
"She made me out to be a rapist," he said.
"I did not behave in any way inappropriately with her that night.
"There was nothing unusual about that night."
The prosecutor said: "Your first instinct in the police station was to tell a pack of lies. Are you lying now?"
The defendant replied: "No."
He was also accused of telling a "blatant" lie about the Snapchat image and could offer no explanation as to why the friend would say it was received and what she remembered of it.
He admitted that the woman's account of the night out that led up to them going back to hers', where she had innocently invited him to share the bed, was accurate.
In closing speeches, the prosecutor said this made her a credible witness.
"One thing we can agree on is that the defendant is a liar," he said.
The defence advocate said to the jury that it was one word against another.
"You saw James Worsley give evidence, can you be sure he lied to you?
"Put yourself in his shoes. Have you ever told a little white lie to get yourself out of trouble? He was scared.
"She didn't say anything like 'get out of my bed, get out of myself, go downstairs'.
"Instead she got back into bed with someone who had just raped her. Does this seem to be a little strange?"
The advocate also said that they had had contact since the incident.
In giving evidence yesterday, the woman admitted to having contact with the man since, but she said she had ensured they were never alone.
She did admit there were points of the night that she couldn't remember, such as getting home. However, she was adamant that what she could remember was correct and the truth.
"It definitely happened, it wasn't a dream," she said.
James Worsley, 23, of Westhorpe, Southwell, denies rape.
The judge is expected to finish his summing up of the case tomorrow after which the jury will be sent out to deliberate on its verdict.